With much thought on the matter, we've decided to change Isaac's name to Bones. Bones was an excellent eater as a baby but has digressed considerably since getting an older, more bossy opinion. He has a solid meat diet--burgers, chicken, sausage, hot dogs, bacon--you get the picture. He loves milk and will eat cereal, yogurt and macaroni. Other than a handful of snacks, that's IT! We've forced him to try different things like sloppy joes, spaghetti, meat loaf--which are all meat yielding meals, but it's all out war with no good return. SO, yesterday, Miles and I were lunching on a tasty uncrustable when Bones bee-bopped into the kitchen and asked for Fruit Loops because he was hungry. Hhhuummmm, maybe he'd like an uncrustable. Battle lines were drawn, tears were flowing, threats were made and finally the dreadful bite. The reason for this post is based entirely on this sentence which has made me laugh:
Bones: "This meat tastes funny."
He also told me that it was bleeding (I guess he saw the red jam and made that assumption).
He, of course, didn't like the bite but swallowed it. I'm open to any suggestions you seasoned mothers have to picky eaters. It's not that I'm worried because I normally stock all Bones's favorite foods in our refrigerator, but I'd really love for him to start enjoying other foods.
I said this wouldn't happen to us either, but it has. My only suggestion (which you're obviously already doing) is to keep offering them different things, because their tastes really can change. Noah hated carrots until recently when he decided he really loves them. I think part of it is a control issue. We've tried "here's what we're eating, eat it or be hungry" (mine aren't big enough eaters that they care), "sit there until your plate is clean" (they enjoy an excuse to stay up late), and "make yourself a pb&j if you don't like what we're having" (Maddy ate a straight diet of pb&j that week). When I get on a kick of trying to get them to eat a more well-rounded menu, we have done the "here's your food, you can eat it now, or we can save it until you're hungry" thing and honestly, that works pretty well, but is such a pain/stress for me that I don't usually keep it up very long. And saving the plate all night sometime seemed cruel and unusual. We also have a meateater, a vegetarian, and and anti-pastite (Seinfeld, sort of, reference). I am so tired of the food wars and complaints that my kids are no longer allowed to ask or discuss what I am fixing for supper. I'm hoping you get some better suggestions, too!!!
ReplyDeleteEmma won't eat beef......of any kind. I mean have you ever heard of a kid that really doesn't like McDonald's?!?!?! She will eat chicken, pork chops, fish (but not all fish), hot dogs and spaghetti. She is not a big milk drinker, but will eat cereal and loves yogurt. She will eat raw carrots, but not cooked, Grandma's green beans, but not mine. We just keep offering her things and sometimes she will finally give in. We tried for ages to get her to eat eggs.....finally a couple of weeks ago, she asked for one (scrambled of course!). The other night we had breakfast for dinner and after she ate her egg she looked at my plate which had bacon on it and asked what it was. Since she likes pork chops, I told her it was crispy pork.....so she ate some :-)
ReplyDeleteI guess my advise would be to just be patient, keep offering and show him that you like it and it is good. Since kids are pretty curious, they seem to eventually want to find out what you think is so good. Good luck!
Hang in there!! Courtney is my challenge, however she is slowly starting to try new things, some of them she likes and some of them she doesn't but she does surprise me sometimes and I am thankful for that.
ReplyDeleteOh no... it must not get better anytime soon. I was hoping Wesley was going to be growing out of his picky eating soon. -sigh-
ReplyDeleteHe is too funny! That's like Mitchell's comment a few weeks ago. He told someone he was a vegetarian. He said" I don't eat meat or vegtables". Mitchell ate good when he was a baby and then he went to eating hardly anything. I'm always offering him new foods and even bribing him sometimes. He has finally started to eat a few new things. So just keep offering.
ReplyDeleteBones will survive and will probably grow up to be a 98-pound man! He's such a funny kid, and the "this meat tastes funny" comment is priceless.
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